Bowled Over By Sponsors

In 1986, Sunkist stunned and even appalled college football purists by paying $1 million to fuse its moniker to the Fiesta Bowl.

The names of college bowl games have never been the same.

While sports fans cringe over the corporate names plastered on stadiums and arenas, title sponsorships for the holiday season college games have spawned some real whoppers during the past dozen years, including the Poulan/Weed Eater Independence Bowl and the Outback Steakhouse Gator Bowl.

"For years and years and years, there were no title sponsorships," said Marc Kidd of Lexington, Ky.-based Host Communications, which works with companies on college sponsorship deals. "In the early days, the decisions to give corporate titles were controversial. But the marketplace has changed. The public has come to accept the commercialism."

These days, the going rate for a company to hitch its name to a bowl game and treat its clients and suppliers to a few fun-filled days is $750,000 for the lesser-known games and $8 million for the Big Four of the Bowl Championship Series: the Tostitos Fiesta, the FedEx Orange, the Nokia Sugar and the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T.

South Florida offers the newest naming rights deal and one of the oldest: the Micron PC Bowl at Pro Player Stadium on Dec. 29 and the FedEx Orange Bowl at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2.

Idaho-based Micron Electronics is the latest company to pay for the title sponsorship of a game that made its debut as the Blockbuster Bowl in 1990 and morphed into the Carquest Bowl in 1994. It became the Sunshine Classic last year when there was no title sponsor.

Micron, a leading maker of computer products, uses the slogan "New Rules. New Tools." to sell its products. Micron has attempted to link the phrase to the game, which will pit the University of Miami against North Carolina State University.

"We salute the teams chosen to play in this marquee matchup at the Micron PC Bowl and we salute the spirit of the `New Rules. New Tools.' in the office or on the field," a recent Micron news release said.

How valuable will Micron's sponsorship be to the company?

Sports marketing consultant Scott Becher said it's not a good investment for a company to write a check to get its name on a low-profile bowl game if the game is not used as a platform to market its product.

"If all you're doing is putting your name on a second-tier game and counting on your logo on the field or billboards or logo on a jersey to be your point of distinction, you won't get your money's worth," said Becher, president of Coral Gables-based Sports & Sponsorships.

"You want to do something that tells a story about your product through the sponsorship. Anyone can write a check and put their name on something. That's not marketing. That's a creative form of media buying."

Kidd agrees.

"It's a good investment as long as the company has a tie-in to the community," he said. "If there's a good tie-in, the company can build good will with the local community."

Becher said Micron could use the game as a platform to showcase its high-tech equipment.

"If I was Micron, I would try to use my technology to enhance the game experience for people in the stadium or at home," he said.

Because the Micron PC Bowl is considered a minor bowl among many of the same caliber, there is the risk the corporate affiliation will get lost in the clutter of the more than 20 postseason games, said Craig Tartasky, sports division executive director of Washington, D.C.-based E.J. Krause & Associates.

"There are too many bowls," said Tartasky, director of the International Sport Summit, a sports marketing and business powwow in New York next month. "That's becoming a problem."

Micron marketing officials could not be reached for comment. Several calls placed to the company were not returned.

While Micron is a new player in the college bowl landscape, Federal Express is marking its 10th year as the Orange Bowl's title sponsor.

The company's $8 million annual investment is worth the money from the TV exposure during the game and the chance to capture an audience without interference from competitors, said Jim Lyski, Federal Express vice president of marketing.

"You can't watch the game for a couple of minutes without seeing the logo," he said. He noted Federal Express' orange-and-purple color scheme is a perfect touch for a game that this year draws one team with orange as its primary color -- Syracuse University -- and another with orange and blue its primary colors -- the University of Florida.

The game also allows Federal Express to treat its customers to a long weekend, which includes top business speakers and rounds of golf, Lyski said.